Easter

The Easter Bunny brought Eli this huge lollipop!
I think he liked the stick more than the candy....

Daddy, Mommy & Baby on Easter

About to dig into his Easter crate (1 of 4)

His first egg hunt. He didn't want to put the eggs into the basket.

Grandpa Smith let him suck on m&ms

Basket from Nana

He totally posed for his picture before we left for church.

My favorite pic of the day!

Hopefully, all of you had a wonderful Easter. Ours was very nice, but very busy! We got up early to get ready for church. It was the first time Eli had really been to an actual service, and he was a very good boy. I was quite impressed! After church, we went to Nana's for brunch, and then to visit with Grandpa and Rita. Of course, Eli got presents at both places. Later, we went to Grandma and Pappy's for an egg hunt, and more presents. It was basically like Christmas for Eli, in terms of gifts! He was very spoiled. Unfortunately, I had to be at work by 3:30, but at least I got to spend a good bit of the day with family.

In other news, Eli is working really hard to cut a tooth. I can feel it, but I can't see anything yet, other than swelling. He's been rather unpleasant and irritable at times, especially at night. Mommy and Daddy are very sleepy! I hope he works it through soon, so he can feel better. I'm just a little scared about what is to come when he nurses with teeth!

Eli has been working really hard at walking and standing. He loves to do both with assistance, and actually demands help often. He still doesn't seem to be getting any closer to crawling, so who knows? maybe he will be one of those babies that skips it. He's getting less and less wobbly when walking and he goes right towards what he wants with no guidance, just balance. He tries to pull himself up, too, and he's almost there.

Oh yeah, and he waves now! It's adorable :)

An overdue update

Eli is nearing 10 months--I can't believe it! I'm already planning his birthday party, and I'm quite excited about it! I have a cute idea for a theme, but I'll leave it a surprise. If anyone especially wants an invitation, leave me a comment on here or myspace or give me a call!

Eli is still not crawling (nor does he seem interested), but he is surprisingly mobile. He can roll to get what he wants, sometimes scoots, and often whines until you grab his hands and he will then stand up and walk. He wants to get into everything, and I'm actually hoping he is a late crawler (lol). His new favorite things are the computer keyboard/my laptop, his singing mirror, and blocks, along with the classic favorites: paper, plastic bottles, his jungle, and the exersaucer.

My sister, Makayla, and I went to Columbus on St. Patrick's Day for Eli's developmental assessment. His corrected age at the time was 6 months (nearly 7, really) and he tested above average in all areas. In most areas, he was at about an 8 month level, which is right between his corrected age and his real age of 9 months. Everyone there was very impressed with him, and had no concerns of any kind! It was a great day--I was a very proud Mommy--and I love going to the clinic there, because my questions are always thoroughly welcomed and answered.

His next appointment in Columbus will be in September, where he will have his 12-months-corrected-age assessment and he will also see a urologist. If you don't remember, Eli may have hypospadias, a birth defect involving an abnormally placed urethra. Plus, Eli is still uncircumsized, because he was too fragile to have the procedure done at birth. I am thinking that is the way it will stay, but I want to get some facts from the doctor before Seth and I finalize that decision.

Enjoy some recent pictures!

I had a little fun with the camera today :)

This was about 9 months ago.... What a difference!

Can you see the fuzz growing up there?!

i

My big boy standing up!

Posing with his stats: he is still small for his real age, but pretty normal for the corrected age. He was 16 1/2 lbs at this appointment.

Playing with the physical therapist during his assessment

A family pic at an anniversary party for Seth's Aunt and Uncle

oOBubblesOo

I haven't had the chance to update in a while, so I thought I'd share some pictures from today. We took a ton, and there are even more on my Mom's camera, but here are some of the better ones from my sister's. The first one is my favorite!

Eli has been doing pretty well, except for the little cold he has now. His developmental assesment in Columbus had to be canceled because I didn't want another child to get sick, so we'll be going next week instead. I'll most likely update again afterwards!

Today's Doctor's Appointment

A recent family picture

Peekaboo! This is what he does if you talk to him
while he's in his exersaucer and he can't see you.
I think it's so cute!

I love the way the camera captured his movements here.

Eli had an appointment with Dr. Ekanem today for another RSV shot. It went well--he's starting to take the stick itself much better than he used to. He's been fussy today, and I'm not sure if the shot is to blame or if it might just be his gums. Still no teeth, but they have got to be coming soon! Eli now weighs 15.4 lbs and is a whole 25 inches tall. He's finally getting a little more length on him! Dr. E. was pleased that he is now getting baby food, and he told me to feed him as much as I think he needs. He is currently getting one fruit feeding and one vegetable feeding, but I might increase that to three solid food meals per day. He can't stand it when others are eating around him, so it's impossible to have a snack if he isn't eating also. He's a demanding little guy!

Balloons!

Yesterday, we went to a baby shower honoring our long-time friend, Cassie. She and her husband are expecting a baby girl, Hallie, in April. Eli had a blast checking everyone out and playing with the balloons!

Solid Foods

Eli turned 8 months old today! And what a beautiful day it was. We took total advantage of the 70-degree-weather and were out and about walking for most of the day. He went to his first ball game this evening, and I think he quite enjoyed himself other than the buzzers. He really enjoyed flirting with Baby Presley, a high school friend's 9-month-old daughter. I think it was love at first sight. You should have seen them standing next to each other! Presley was about a head taller than Eli! Unfortunately, the electric went out during the junior varsity game and we didn't get to watch cousin Erika play! High winds had taken the power out in numerous towns throughout the valley, so we had to play by candlelight for a few hours.

Eli is turning into quite the little character. He's constantly making everyone laugh. Once the power came back on, Eli's Grandma Jody and I played Skip-Bo. Of course, Eli had to have what I had--cards. We got out an old deck for him to play with, and he picked up two cards and started to study them. He threw one down as if he were playing that card, and then began to scream when he realized he no longer had that card. Seconds later, he realized he still had one in the other hand and immediately stopped crying and began to study the second card, and then crinkle and slobber it. When he later dropped that one, he carried on and "demanded" that I put it back into his mouth and hold it there. I tell ya... he's ornery.

We decided to try solid foods last Friday. I baked a sweet potato, peeled the skin and mashed it up. I portioned most of the mash into an ice cube try for later use, and left several spoonfulls in a bowl. At dinner, Eli ate with the rest of us.

He was curious at first.
"Hey what is this stuff, anyway?"

"Ok, I'm done. Just get me out of here."

I think he ended up spitting out the majority of what I spooned in. We skipped solids on Saturday. On Sunday, Nana pureed steamed and pureed some peas and gave those to Eli while they were still warm (I have since found out that it's best to wait 3-4 days before introducing new foods to be sure there is no reaction) and he loved them! He had peas the next day, and then we tried sweet potatoes again, but warm this time. He seemed to enjoy them a little more. Tomorrow, we are going to prepare some carrots and squash to freeze. After he's had the chance to try several veggies, we will move to fruits, maybe banana, mango and avocado, first.

Playin' around on the couch
& sitting up all by himself

My new favorite.

After tubby time (which we like a lot
more than tummy time)!

Here he is sticking out that tongue

Little cowboy

It seems that Eli is growing up faster and faster these days. He's doing new things all of the time. He enjoys sticking out his tongue and doing "raspberries" (aka blowing spit bubbles all over the place), sitting up on his own, grabbing anything and everything, putting things in his mouth, rocking back and forth, trying to stand up, finally rolling over well, and the list goes on.... I think he will be crawling by sometime in March, and we are getting ready to start solid foods.

Thus far, Eli has eaten only breast milk, aside from the times in the NICU and shortly after homecoming when he had a few bottles of breast milk fortified with formula. As I recently returned to work, I realized that I just can't pump enough to keep him fed while I'm at work. He's still getting satisfied when he breast feeds directly, but there is a huge difference between nursing and pumping, and I just can't express enough milk. We decided to start supplementing with formula while I'm at work. He gets a bottle of half breast milk and half formula--Similac Advance, as his pediatrician doesn't believe he needs the premie version any more--and it's been working out just fine. I was a little sad at the fact that I wouldn't be his only provider of food anymore, but obviously his full tummy if more important than my full ego.

As far as solid foods go, I haven't started them yet for a few reasons. First, starting solids too soon has been linked to food allergies. Second, I didn't see any real reason to start. He was getting full on breast milk, gaining weight, wasn't sitting up well or trying to put anything in his mouth. I just didn't see any reason to rush something that he has his whole life to learn how to do. If he's getting everything he needs from milk, why start on food? I'm starting to feel that now is the time. I was wanting to start him at a corrected age of 6 months, and he's getting close to that. He's sitting up very well, and notices when people are eating and often acts as if he wants to eat when others are doing so. I'm going to be making my own baby food and freezing it. So far, I have carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash, so his first food will be one of those things. Of course, I'll post pictures!